missionary

Authentic early images of West Africans are rare—and quite sought after. David Boilat offers us just such a portfolio in Esquisses Sénégalaises, published in 1853. The twenty-four color plates are remarkable for their attention to details of clothing, jewelry, hair styles, skin color, and facial features. His accompanying text describes, with remarkable equanimity for his time period, pertinent customs and behaviors ranging from the admirable to the deplorable—all judged from the local point of view.

This book showcases evocative pictures of Southwestern churches taken by Douglas Kent Hall, a well-known documentary photographer. Originally from New York, Hall moved to the small village of Alcalde in northern New Mexico. He spent time travelling throughout the Southwest and along the Mexico-U.S. border in the 1980s gathering material for two photographic books.